The present invention relates to methods of detecting inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract of an organism.
The gastrointestinal tract includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and rectum. There are currently no routinely employed noninvasive diagnostic tests to identify inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract due to a variety of causes (Richter, Spiro, Weinstein). Current medical practice dictates that inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract be diagnosed by invasive endoscopic examination and biopsy of the tissue. This procedure involves increased risk of anesthesia, as well as bleeding and perforation of the gastrointestinal tract. Aside from this increased risk of morbidity, endoscopy requires a skilled endoscopist to perform the procedure.
There are only a few isolated case report descriptions in the medical literature of non-invasive tests to diagnose gastrointestinal inflammation. These previous case reports have demonstrated the use of a non-blood flow tracer, Gallium-67, to detect abnormal accumulations of Gallium-67 in the esophagus in severe cases of fungal esophagitis (Miller, Rundback), post-operative gastritis (Eikman), and coarse gastric mucosa (Hardoff). However, these reports have not concerned less severe and more common causes of inflammation. Also, Gallium-67 is not a blood flow tracer. None of these previous reports describes the use of blood flow tracers such as thallium-201 being used to identify inflammation in a tissue. Furthermore, none of these reports reveal the use of an artery dilating agent in conjunction with a blood flow tracer such as thallium-201 for the non-invasive diagnosis of gastrointestinal inflammation.
Dipyridamole is a potent dilator of arteries. It is thought to act by stimulating the release of endogenous adenosine, which is known to stimulate gastric blood flow (Cho). None of the references cited at the end of this specification show use of dipyridamole to evaluate blood flow to the gastrointestinal tract, or to evaluate patients with gastrointestinal inflammation.